Coupling-release rigging.



W. KELSO.

rCOUPLING RELEASE RIGGING.

APPucATloN vFILED FEB.4.1915.

1,148,028. Parememu1y27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

En sTATEs PATENT or in. i

WILLIAM KELSO, OF PITTSBURGH, TENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO MCCONWAY &

TORLEY COMPANY, F PITTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA, A COREORATION OF :PENNSYLVANIA.`

To all whom it may/.concern y Be it known that I, WILLIAM Knnso, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coupler-Release Rigging; and I do hereby del Clare the following to be a. full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to .which it appertains to make and use the same.

My inventionrelates to the construction fof car couplers and especially to those in which the head is pivotally connected to its shank or stem so as to be capable of lateral swinging movements with respect to the latter; and the principal object of the invention is vto provide such a coupler with an efficient release rigging whichshall be sim- ,ple in construction, compact in arrangement, strong and durable, easily operated, and of a form and nature rendering it generally applicable to swinging couplers with-- Aout requiring special adaptations of parts in order to clear safety-chain anchorages,

I steam and air hose and other devices usually mounted on the ends of cars in any of the numerous locations where such devices are apt to be vencountered on cars of dierent types and different designs.

A further vobject of my'invention is to so form the several elements of the release rigging 'and' to so combine them with each other and with the coupler head that one of said elements may engage and overlap aV portion of the knuckle locking device above its lower end in a manner to always insure member of the release-riggingto beacon` veniently and efficiently utilized as a means for preventing'accidental unlocking ofthe couple/r, as will hereinafter appear. Y

Another object of myinvention'is to produce a device of the character indicated which may be easily assembled or repaired and which may be applied to couplers now in extensive use without necessitating any Specification .of Leiters Patent. l

COUPLING-RELEASE RIGGING.

changes in the construction ofthe coupler heads or stems thereof.

Patented July 27, 1915. Application filed February 4, 1915. Serial No. 6,085.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred I embodiment of my invention, the scope whereof is pointed ,out in the claims. Figure 1 is a plan view of a coupler and a release rigging embodying my invention, portions of the uncoupling levers, which extend to the sides of the car in the well known Imanner, being .omitted and the stem of the couplerbein-g` shown in dotted lines in order .to more clearly disclose the un erlying por-V tions ofthe release rigging. F' 2 is aside elevation of the devices illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation ofthe coupler and release rigging. Fig. 4 is a detail view partly in side elevation and partly in section illustrating the operation of the release rigging in actuating the coupler lock. Fig. 5 is a` detail plan view of va portion of the release rigging devices. Fig. 6 is a detail view taken on rthe line 6 6, Fig. 5. Fig. 7

is a detailfvie'w takenl'm'i'awplane extending l transversely of the coupler through the axis of the pivot pin on which the coupler head turns, said pivot pin .being shownin elevation; and Fig. 8 is a/detail vertical sectional View on the line- 8-8, Fig. 5.

In the drawings, 1 lindicates a coupler head having a knuckle 2 and a vertically movable lock 3 for retaining the knuckle in locked position. The coupler head is pivotally mounted on fthe coupler stem 4' by a -arm 9 overlaps that portion of the-lock 3 which projects downwardly beneath the couplerhead.. i The lowerv end of said lock, as

more particularly shown-in Figs. 3 and 4, is

. preferably provided with a slot or opening into which the arm 9 extends, the lower end of said. slot being closed to form a rest 10 for l vertically extending pivot pin 5, which is .supporting the outer end Said arm when theparts of the coupler and the release rig-lY ging are in normal or locked positions. By

this means the proper coperative relation of the lock actuating arm 9 andthelock 3 is maintained with certainty at all times 'and in any position Awhich the coupler head 1.'

l,while the coupler is in service. As a simple means for effecting this purpose it is preferred to form the arm-9 with a face or shoulder 11 which is adapted to engage a corresponding face or shoulder 12 on the lower end of the lock-3, the faces 11 and 12 being so related that it is necessary to lift the arm 9 suliciently to disengage them and permit them to slide past each other horizontally before the lock 3 can 4be brought -tol unlocked position. As such a disengagement ofthe faces 11 and 1-2can be brought about only through the upward rotation of the lock actuating member 9 of the release.

rigging it will be seen that the lock 3 is prevented from accidentally assuming an unlocked position. 4During the initial .part of its swinging movement the arm 9 travels upwardly inthe slot ofthe lock 3 without lift-` ing the latter, but after such movement has proceeded to aneXtent sufficient to permit thefacesill and 12 to slide past each other laterally and thereby permit the lock to rise, the upper and preferably rounded part 13 of the outer end of the said arm 9 engages the face 14 of the lock at the upper end of the' slOt'therein, whereupon the 'continued upward rotation of said arm causes the lock to move to unlocked position. or to execute such an extended movement as may be necessary to throw open the knuckle 2 when lock-actuated knuckle opening devices are employed.

The shaft 8 is rotatably mounted .on the i coupler head 1 to thel rear of the pivot pin 5 in bearings 15 which are preferably large enough to permit said shaft to t rather loosely therein, thereby preventing any possible binding of the shaft 8 in its bearings when the coupler is in service. The bearings y 15 are preferably open at their tops so as to permit the ready introduction of the shaft 8, the'l'atter being, as shown, conveniently retained in said bearings by means of cotter pins 16 which bridge the openings at the upper sides thereof. To prevent the sha-ft 8 from slidin in the bearings 15 in the direction of its.` ength it may be provided with. annular cbllars lor shoulders 17 which arelocated between' the said bearings and in close ,proximity to corresponding ones thereof.

ments of the coupler, as will be readily un-l derstood. A`s indicated in'Fig. 3, supporting mem'bers 29, through which the members 19 pass, may be employed for this purpose. 'Cotters 21 which pass through the bent inner ends of the uncoupling levers 19 may conveniently serve to maintain the integrity of the connection of said uncoupling levers with the eyes 18 at the ends of the rotatable shaft 8.

The uncoupling' levers 19 As shown more particularly in Fig.. 4

the openingsr of the eyes 18 are preferably flared or enlarged downwardly and toward the rear, as at 22, so 'as to permit the shaft 8 to rotate sufficiently to cause `the lock-actuating arm 9 carriedthereby to completely .execute itsupward movement while permitting the uncoupled levers 19 to remain in their normal positions. By this arrangement the uncoupling levers 19 are permitted to operate independently of each other, so

that when;the loperator rotate-s one of them to actuate the shaft 8 and effect an unlocking-of the coupler, the other uncoupling lever remains in-its normal position and. -the operator 1s,ithereforefrelievedof the necessity of expending any force upon it. This form of connection of the uncoupling levers 19 to the shaftS also results in substantially eliminating lost motion of the uncoupling levers 19 when eitheris operated to effect an unlocking of the coupler. In order to afford' an extended bearing for the uncoupling levers 119 when they are rotated to actuate the shaft 8,'the eyes 18 at fthe ends `of the shaft may be thickened or provided on their upper surfaces with lugs 20.

lhile the bearings for the shaft 8 might be integrally united to the coupler head 1 it is preferred, for the sake of economy as well as for'facility in making repairs, to form them as a part of a bracket 23 which is secured to said head so that it may be removed therefrom, the pivot pin 5 by which thehead 1 and stem 4 are connected being availed of to perform the office of a bolt for securing the said bracket 23 to' the coupler head. To this end the bracket is preferably provided toward its forward end with an opening 24 which is adapted to receive the pivot pin 5, and adjacent to said opening said bracket is also provided with recesses 25 and 26, respectively, which are locking means to unlocked position, saidl pivot pin opening in said head, the'bracket 23 being thus caused to turn with the head,

as will be readily understood. On its under' side the bracket is provided with a recess 28 which receives the head 6 of the pivot pin 5, the vertical walls of said recess being adapted to engage corresponding vertical faces of the head 6 so as to prevent rotation of the pivot pin 5 with respect to said bracket and, consequently, with respect to the coupler head 1 also. p

I claim: X

1. In a d evice of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head and its knuckle locking means, a coupler stem and means for pivotally" connecting said head and stem,` of mechanism' for moving` said knuckle locking means 'to unlocked position, said mechanism beingV supported beneath said head and being connected thereto soas to be movable therewith and being rotatable with respect to said head upon an axis lying to 'the rear of the'aXis on which the head turns with respect to said stem. i

2. In a device of the character indicated,A

the combination with a coupler head and its knuckle locklng means, a coupler stem and means for pivotally colmecting said head and stem, of mechanism for moving said thereto so as to be movable therewith lfand having a -rotatablemembenwhich has its axis of rotation to the rearof the axis on which the head turns with respect to saidv stem and which is adapted to engage said locking means to move the same/,to unlocked position and which also is adapted 'to l en- Agage said locking means at a pointabove its lower end when the latter is in locked position. Y

3. .In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head and its knuckle locking means, a coupler stem and a pin'for pivotally connecting said head and stem, of mechanism for moving said knuckle Vmechanism being suppgrted beneathsaid head and being movabletlreby and involving a bracket which is secured to said head through the instrumentality of said pivot the combination with a coupler head and its pin, a-shaftjournaled in said bracket and l provided with a forwardly extending arm which engages said locking means for actuating the same, and independently rotatable uncoupling levers movably connected to said shaft and extending on opposite sides of the Y coupler stem.

4. In a device of the character indicated,

knuckle locking means, a lcoupler stem and means for pivotally connecting said head and stem, 'of mechanism for moving said knuckle locking means to unlockedV position, said mechanism being supported beneath and by said head to the rear of said pivotal v connecting means and being movable with said head and being alsosupportingly engaged by said lmuckle locking means when the latter is in locked position. c

5. In a device of the character indicated, the combinationwith a coupler head audits knuckle locking means, a coupler stem and a pin` for pivotally connecting saidh'ead and stem, a bracket 4secured to' the coupler head 80 by said pin and extending rearwardly from saidvpin, a shaft journaled'in said bracket to the rear of said pin and provided with a forwardly extending arm whose forward end engages said knuckle locking means in advance of said pivot pin, and means for' actuating said shaft to thereby lcause the said arm to move the knuckle locking means to unlocked position'. y

6. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head and its knuckle' locking means, of a coupler stem'and aV headed pin for pivotally connecting said coupler head and stem, a bracket, and jmeohanism journaled on said; bracket for "je lgcking means to un'- locked positioig-saidhracket being attached tosaid couplerlhead by vsaid pivot pin, and beinginterposed between -the head of said pin and the coupler head, and being provided with means lfor engaging the head of said to prevent the rotation of said pin, and being also provided with means whereby caused to rotate withisaid coupler head about the axis of sai-'dpivot pin.

rIn testimony whereof I'aiix my signature, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' Witnesses: .WM MCCONWAY, Jr.,

E. M. G Rovn. 

